Dissidia 010 Decimus
by DarkenedFantasy
Summary: Nine times has the cycle of battle begun and ended. Nine times has Shinryu been summoned forth to return life to the fallen. When resurrecting the last vestiges of utterly devastated forces, where even the gods themselves are injured, how is this to end?
1. Prologus

**Disclaimer:** I make no claims of ownership over any of the characters, locations, and etcetera used in this fanfiction. All copyrights belong to their respective copyright owners.

-.-.-.-

_The cycle of battle has raged on for many eons within.  
>Cosmos, goddess of Harmony, and Chaos, god of discord,<br>have summoned pawns from many worlds to serve in their war._

_But- the cycle would not be resolved.  
>Even after nine repetitions of the war ceasing and beginning anew,<br>Nothing had changed.  
>Though both sides had driven themselves to such exhaustion<br>that the great dragon almost could not retrieve them-  
>The cycle continued.<em>

_Now, as the wheel of conflict begins its tenth turn,  
>The weary warriors of both god and goddess start questioning:<em>

_Who is our true master?_

_Who, indeed._

-.-.-.-

This fanfiction is based off of a series of quests I am making in Quest Editor for Duodecim- each quest is structured like a Destiny Odyssey, and while the editor may be awesome, it's still limited. So, I've decided to give it a proper fleshing out here.


	2. Memoria I

**Disclaimer**: I make no claims of ownership over any of the characters, locations, and etcetera used in this fanfiction. All copyrights belong to their respective copyright owners.

-.-.-.-

Destiny Odyssey -Memoria- Chapter One

He awoke with no true consciousness, no awareness of his surroundings. Nor any awareness of himself. Who was this 'self'? Who was he? Where was he? And why was he here?

He inclined his head to the side, and saw silver locks sprawled out on the white, watery ground in this calm, featureless plain. The question forming in his mind took an eternity to vocalize, for it seemed he had trouble recalling how to speak properly.

"Wh- where am I?" he asked, a baritone timbre he now began recognizing as his own greeting his ears.

"Do not be afraid." a calm, feminine voice soothed from above him.

He looked up, and saw a beautiful blonde woman clothed in white, the light surrounding her almost blinding his newly opened eyes.

"Your life has been renewed." the woman continued, placing a hand gently on his face.

_Renewed...? Then I..._

Aloud, the man asked, "Who-?"

The question died, not even half-articulated upon his lips. A single fragment, a small shard of memory was slipping into his mind. A presence he longed for, one which soothed and welcomed him.

"Mother? Is that-?"

"Shhh..." the blonde woman, the goddess, soothed, holding a hand to the man's forehead. "You will know more in time. For now, return to your slumber. Sleep for now, Sephiroth."

A twinge of recognition pulled at the back of his mind.

_Yes... that's my name... I'm Sephiroth..._

-.-.-.-

A flash of light ran through Sephiroth's peripheral vision, and he felt a massive jolt of pain in his lower back as the Straightarrow Firion had been aiming at him while lost in thought slammed straight into him. The force of the blow sent him tumbling forward, onto the ground, but he rolled up to his feet almost immediately afterwards.

_Serves me right for letting myself get distracted in battle. Had that been an enemy, I would be dead now..._ he thought, cursing himself as he tried looking for the weaponmaster's hiding location.

Firion smiled, looking down at Sephiroth from the top of the Crystal Tower. There was no way he'd be able to make it up there fast enough to find him. At least, that's what he thought, until Sephiroth's katana met his side, giving him several shallow wounds, and launching him farther into the air. As Firion struggled to right himself, he saw Sephiroth launch himself above him, and prepare his blade in a familiar downwards stabbing motion. The blade dug just inside of Firion's armor, holding him helpless as gravity took both warriors to the bottom of the state. However, about halfway down the tower, Tidus threw a blitzball at Sephiroth's blade hard enough to dislodge it from Firion's armor.

"You're not really trying to kill him!" Tidus shouted, sounding annoyed as he fell back to the ground, and ran for the other figure standing by the walls near Crystal Tower- Lightning Farron.

_If you honestly bothered being observant, you'd noticed the blade was positioned so that even after the both of us landed on the ground, the stab wound wouldn't pierce anything vital. Besides, Lightning has been ordered to stop the fight the moment it gets even slightly out of hand, paradigm shift to Medic, and heal any injuries sustained..._ Sephiroth thought to himself, annoyed at the interference.

He held up his blade against the triple barrage of ice flying towards him, and charged for the falling Firion. He held up his blade, and began a stream of eight sword strikes, all of which hit Firion's armor, but did not damage it. The other warrior was sent flying into the wall from the force of the attack, but he soon recovered enough to begin aiming another Straightarrow for the silver-haired swordsman.

Sephiroth was having none of it, and charged for Firion, letting himself fall beneath the arrow's range before sweeping his blade upward and knocking Firion further into the air. He charged once more for the weaponsmaster, who tried to pull out his blade to attack, only for Sephiroth to block it, and swiftly and brutally counter it. Exhausted, Firion let himself fall down to the ground, barely having the strength to get back up on his knees after the hit and fall. Sephiroth descended much more slowly and smoothly, and landed on the ground before Firion, the tip of Masamune's blade laid lightly against his throat.

"Yield." Sephiroth commanded, looking down at his opponent.

Firion tried to stand up defiantly, but the effort instead sent him tumbling to the grassy earth. He winced as he looked at one of the trees which had surrounded the area which was now completely destroyed.

"Here." Lightning stated calmly, using a quick Cura spell on the collapsed warrior.

As he felt his energy returning, Firion stood up, and faced Sephiroth, hand offered for a handshake. "That was a good fight."

Sephiroth took the proferred hand, and shook it. "Yes. However, you need to remember that you will not always have opportunities to take ages in aiming your arrows. You need to be ready to aim and fire at a moment's notice, which requires absolute focus."

Firion broke the handshake, and looked concernedly at Sephiroth. "Speaking of focus, you seemed distracted during our fight. I almost never manage to land a hit on you. Is something wrong?"

The swordsman's head jerked as though he had been startled out of a train of thought. "Hm? Oh, it's nothing. We should move on before any manikins or soldiers of Chaos arrive."

"Oh no you don't. Don't just think you can zone out like that and pretend nothing's wrong!" Tidus cut in, walking in front of Sephiroth, and cutting off his path out of here. "Something's bothering you. Come on. Spill it!"

"Tidus, you forget your place." the rose-haired swordswoman cut in, glaring at the younger blond. "He is our commander, and if he doesn't want to speak what's on his mind, then that is his prerogative."

"Are we standing around chatting and wasting time, or are we moving? We need to get back to the Sanctuary before Warrior gets angry with us for having gone off on our own." Sephiroth stated sharply, cutting in to the argument.

"Heh. Right." Tidus agreed, starting to run ahead.

Sephiroth noticed the rapidly descending shadow from above Tidus's head just in time to tackle the blond to the ground and out of range of the blow, which was surrounded by shadows. He stood up while Tidus tried to regain his lost breath. A bright flash of light filled the area, and Sephiroth soon found himself staring at the white-and-silver clad paladin of Chaos, Cecil Harvey. He looked over the group with deadened eyes, and held out his blade towards the general.

"I've finally found you." the knight stated, his voice almost monotone. "The time has come for the end of Cosmos's greatest hero."

Sephiroth gritted his teeth. _This man couldn't be any more obviously brainwashed... Is it still right to fight him-?_

"You won't take him if we have anything to say about it." Firion cut in, drawing out his sword.

"We can take you o-" Lightning began.

"Lightning, go. Take the others with you and report back to the Sanctuary. If I fail to return within a reasonable amount of time, then assume that I have either perished or been captured. Inform the Warrior and Cosmos of the situation, and stay there until such time as you have been ordered to leave by me or Warrior. Understood?" Sephiroth commanded, drawing his blade.

"But Si-"

"That's an _order_, solider!" Sephiroth cut in, glaring back at his rose-haired second in command.

Lightning didn't look too happy with the situation, but she nodded. "Understood, Sir."

With that, she grabbed Tidus and Firion by the arms, and began retreating towards the sanctuary.

"Foolish." Cecil said bluntly. "Now no one can help you. Prepare yourself."

As the knight shifted to his darker self, and held out his blade, Sephiroth continued to ponder over the circumstance.

_It doesn't matter._ he resolved. _Willing or no, this man is an enemy, an assassin trying to take my life. And I can't allow him to succeed._

"There would be your fatal error, Cecil." Sephiroth began, his voice deathly calm. "Assuming I'd need help against a warrior such as you."

And he charged to make the first blow against his opponent.


End file.
